Utilities - open APIs and digital rights

In collaboration with the Open Data Institute, we’ve been exploring how open APIs in the telecoms sector could lead to totally new types of products and what the implications might be for people’s digital rights.

We prototyped three scenarios - managing bills in a shared house, new ways of switching providers and using telecoms data to improve air pollution. These were informed by interviews with experts in the industry and tested using UK and international participants.

Through the research and prototyping we identified which APIs the telecoms industry and government should prioritise. We also identified some potential design patterns that we think might be useful for other utilities sectors, like energy.

We’ve published the prototypes and findings in a report: Open APIs in the Telecoms Industry which we hope will inform how government and the telecoms industry think about the opportunities of open APIs and how to make sure people’s digital rights are protected.